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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (39906)	8/26/2002 12:06:10 PM
From: maceng2	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

especially when the quid pro quo was permitting the Russians to have a free hand with the Chechens. You make it sound as if the West is doing the Russians a favor here Hawk....letting them beat up Chechens. It's an undisputed fact that the guys fighting in Chechnya also fought in Afghanistan and visa versa. They are a common terrorist enemy to both the USA and Russia. Worst thing that could happen is if Russia chucks it in and Chechnya becomes another Muslim extremist terrorist state with oil to sell. MT story attached... --------------------------------------------------------- The Crash and Cost of War themoscowtimes.com By Pavel Felgenhauer In the worst ever helicopter disaster in world history, a heavy army Mi-26 helicopter went down in the northeastern suburbs of the Chechen capital, Grozny, killing at least 115 servicemen. Russian military helicopters and fixed-wing transport aircraft often carry unauthorized passengers, sometimes including civilians. It is reported that on the Mi-26 there was at least one child -- the son of a servicewoman on board -- who perished in the crash together with his mother. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announced he was suspending the chief of the army's air force, three-star General Vitaly Pavlov, from service -- apparently as punishment for the total lack of orderly passenger registration for army helicopter transportation in Chechnya. Of course, any journalist or soldier who has been in a war zone with virtually any army knows that not all flight regulations are always strictly observed. I once had a ride on a Mi-26 from Mozdok to Grozny, together with some 50 servicemen and journalists on top of a stockpile of crates with tons of artillery shells and other munitions. I boarded the helicopter minutes before takeoff and a crew member penciled my name on some sheet of paper without, apparently, reporting it to ground control. In war zones paperwork is never done on time or by the book. But despite obvious lapses in bureaucratic procedure, the army's helicopter pilots, mechanics and flight controllers have performed excellently in extremely severe conditions during the war in Chechnya -- actually much more professionally than most other branches of the military. Pavlov was apparently picked out for public punishment only because the Mi-26 disaster exposed the official spin line that the war in Chechnya already ended long ago. The Mi-26 is reported to have been shot down by Chechen rebels using a shoulder-launched heat-seeking anti-aircraft missile. The missile hit one of the engines as the Mi-26 was approaching Khankala, and the helicopter crash-landed in a minefield that made up part of the federal military headquarters' perimeter defenses. Some of the survivors, attempting to abandon the wrecked Mi-26, are reported to have been killed by "friendly" anti-personnel mine explosions. The war in Chechnya has not "ended" and reprimanding Pavlov will not alter this fact. After almost three years of occupation, Russians feel safe in their main Chechen base only behind massive minefields. Khankala is a besieged fort in totally hostile territory. To Our Readers Has something you've read here startled you? Are you angry, excited, puzzled or pleased? Do you have ideas to improve our coverage? Then please write to us. All we ask is that you include your full name, the name of the city from which you are writing and a contact telephone number in case we need to get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you. Email the Opinion Page Editor The Mi-26 was ferrying troops and officers assigned to various units from Mozdok in North Ossetia. By road, it is 136 kilometers through the relatively peaceful northern part of Chechnya, with military checkpoints all the way and a bridge over the Terek River guarded by federal troops. There is also a rail link between Mozdok and Grozny, officially open for commercial and civilian traffic. But instead of taking a two-hour ride, army personnel patiently waited to board a helicopter -- some for more than a day. Obviously they did not even consider the roads of northern Chechnya to be safe. Military armored convoys are frequently attacked, and anyone risking a ride without protection will most probably end up in a rebel dungeon. This time, the helicopter route turned out to be no safer. It is reported that a relatively primitive Strela heat-seeking missile downed the Mi-26. A plane dropping fireball decoys can successfully deflect such missiles. But helicopter pilots complain that such decoys are in short supply and are used only in extreme situations -- usually when the pilot is lucky enough to notice a missile launch and has enough time to press the decoy release button. After the latest disaster, pilots will surely fire decoys more often, but Soviet stockpiles of infrared air force decoys are by no means endless. Many other munitions and military equipment badly needed in Chechnya are in increasingly short supply, because procurement has stopped and production been abandoned since the demise of the Soviet Union. The price of resuming production would be immense and in some cases virtually prohibitive. The cost, both human and financial, of continuing the war grows, while victory appears out of reach. If the price of oil falls anytime soon, the Kremlin may run out of resources to sustain hostilities at their present level. Then it may let Chechnya go at last. Pavel Felgenhauer is an independent defense analyst.